Dear students,
Below is a discussion of the two concepts of denotation and connotation.
Source: El Haj Ahmed, M. (2009) Lexical, Cultural, and Grammatical
Translation Problems Encountered By Senior Palestinian EFL Learners at the
Islamic University of Gaza, Palestine, Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of
Salford, United Kingdom.
3.2.1. Denotation
Lexical items have both denotative and connotative meanings. The denotative
meaning, also known as the cognitive, propositional, conceptual or literal meaning, is
“that kind of meaning which is fully supported by ordinary semantic conventions”
(Dickins et al, 2002: 52). For example, the denotative meaning of the word ‘window’
refers to a particular kind of aperture in a wall or roof. It would be inaccurate to use
‘window’ to refer to other things than the particular references of the relevant sense of
the word.
Dictionaries seek to define meaning. However, dictionaries have their own problems.
One of these is that “they impose, by abstraction and crystallization of one or more
core senses, a rigidity of meaning that words do not often show in reality, and partly
because, once words are put into a context, their denotative meanings become more
flexible” (ibid: 52). These two reasons - the rigidity of meaning and the flexibility of
words in contexts - make it difficult for the translator to determine the exact
denotative meaning in any text including the most soberly informative texts.
Intralingually, English shows some forms of semantic equivalence including full
synonymy. For example, ‘my mother’s father’ and ‘my maternal grandfather’ are
synonyms of one another. In other words, in every specific instance of use, ‘my
mother’s father’ and ‘my maternal grandfather’ include and exclude exactly the same
referents (Dickins et al, 2002: 53). However, full synonymy is exceptional, both
intralingually and interlingually.
In his/her attempt to find the closest equivalent to translate the denotative meaning of
a source language item, the translator usually faces difficulty in finding a full target
language synonym. An example which illustrates the difficulty the translator may face
in finding an appropriate equivalent is the English term ‘uncle’ as compared to the
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Arabic terms ‫ خال‬and ‫عم‬. In English the term ‘uncle’ has a greater range of meanings
than the Arabic terms ‫ خال‬and ‫عم‬, as ‘uncle’ refers both to a father’s brother and
mother’s brother. The relationship between ‘uncle’ and ‫ خال‬and between ‘uncle’ and ‫عم‬
is known as hyperonymy and hyponymy. According to Dickins et al, hyperonymy or
superordination refers to an expression with a wider, less specific, range of denotative
meaning. Hyponymy on the other hand refers to an expression with a narrow, more
specific range of denotative meaning. Therefore ‫ خال‬or ‫ عم‬are both hyponyms of the
English term ‘uncle’ (ibid: 55).
Translating by a hyponym implies that the target language expression has a
narrower and a more specific denotative meaning than the source language word.
Dickins et al (2002: 56) call translation which involves the use of TT hyponym
particularizing translation or particularization. In translating from English to
Arabic, the target word ‫ خال‬is more specific than the source word ‘uncle’, adding
the particulars not present in the source language expression.
Another example which shows lexical differences between English and Arabic and
may therefore create lexical translation problems is the lexical item ‘cousin’. In
English ‘cousin’ can have eight different Arabic equivalents:
1. Cousin:
‫ابن العم‬
‘the son of the father’s brother’
2. Cousin: ‫ابنة العم‬
‘the daughter of the father’s brother’
3. Cousin: ‫ابن العمة‬
‘the son of the father’s sister’
4. Cousin: ‫ابنة العمة‬
‘the daughter of the father’s sister’
5. Cousin: ‫‘ ابن الخال‬the son of the mother’s brother’
6. Cousin: ‫ابنة الخال‬
‘the daughter of the mother’s brother’
7. Cousin: ‫ابن الخالة‬
‘the son of the mother’s sister’
8. Cousin: ‫‘ ابنة الخالة‬the daughter of the mother’s sister’
All of the above eight Arabic terms are hyponyms of English ‘cousin’.
The previous discussion has shown that there are semantic differences between
English and Arabic that the translator should be familiar with. The translator should
look for the appropriate target language hyperonym or hyponym when there is no full
target language synonym for a certain language expression.
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3.2.2. Connotation
Unlike denotative meaning connotative meaning is described as “the communicative
value an expression has by virtue of what it refers to, over and above its purely
conceptual content” (Leech, 1974: 14). As Leech states, the word ‘woman’ is defined
conceptually by three properties ‘human’, ‘female’, ‘adult’. In addition, the word
includes other psychological and social properties such as ‘gregarious’, ‘subject to
maternal instinct’. Leech maintains that ‘woman’ has the putative properties of being
frail, prone to tears, and emotional. He (ibid: 14) distinguishes between connotative
meaning and conceptual (denotative) meaning in the following ways:
1. Connotative meanings are associated with the real world experience one associates
with an expression when one uses or hears it. Therefore, the boundary between
connotative and conceptual meaning is coincident with the boundary between
language and the real world.
2. Connotations are relatively unstable; they vary considerably according to culture,
historical period, and the experience of the individual. Leech believes that all speakers
of a particular language share the same conceptual (denotative) framework just as
they share the same syntax. In Leech’s view, the overall conceptual framework is
common to all languages and is a universal property of the human mind.
3. Connotative meaning is indeterminate and open-ended in the same way as our
knowledge and beliefs about the universe are open-ended. In other words any
characteristic of the referent identified subjectively or objectively, may contribute to
the connotative meaning of the expression which denotes it. In contrast the
conceptual meaning of a word or sentence can be codified in terms of a limited set of
symbols, and the semantic representation of a sentence can be specified by means of
a finite number of rules.
Expressive meaning, as Baker (1992) calls it, refers to the speaker’s feelings or
attitude rather than to what words or utterances refer to. In her opinion the two
expressions ‘do not complain’ and ‘do not whinge’ have the same denotative
meaning, but they differ in their connotative meaning. Unlike, ‘complain’, ‘whinge’
suggests that the speaker finds the action annoying (ibid: 13).
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Based on Leech’s classification of meaning (1974: 26), Dickins et al (2002: 66-74)
distinguish five major types of connotative meanings, as follows:
1. Attitudinal meaning: the expression does not merely denote the referent in a neutral
way, but also hints at some attitude to it. For instance, ‘the police’, ‘the filth’ and ‘the
boys in blue’ have the same denotative meaning. However, the expressions have
different connotative meanings. ‘The police’ is a neutral expression, ‘the filth’ has
pejorative overtones while ‘the boys in blue’ has affectionate ones. In the following
example, the translator has used the term ‘lady’ rather than ‘woman’ since ‘lady’ has
overtones of respect.
‫ يا أنثاي من بين ماليين النساء‬.....‫آه يا بيروت‬
Ah Beirut….my lady amongst millions of women.
2. Associative meaning may consist of expectations that are rightly or wrongly
associated with the referent of the expression. For example, the term ‘Crusade’ has
strongly positive associations in English, whereas its Arabic equivalent ‫ حملة صليبية‬has
negative associations, since the word is associated with the Crusades to Palestine in
the Middle Ages. Conversely, the term ‫ جهاد‬in Arabic has positive associations, since
the word is associated with one of the five pillars of Islam, and those who are killed in
the cause of Allah are rewarded with heaven on the Day of Judgement. On the
contrary, the term ‫ جهاد‬has negative associations in the West, since the word is
connected with international extremist organizations, especially after the September
11 attacks.
3. Affective meaning is related to the emotive effect worked on the addressee by the
choice of expression. For instance, the two expressions ‘silence please’, and ‘shut up’,
or ‫ الرجاء الصمت‬and ‫ أسكت‬in Arabic share the same denotative meaning of ‘be quiet’.
However, the speaker’s attitude to the listener produces a different affective impact,
with the first utterance producing a polite effect and the second one producing an
impolite one. Therefore, the translator should choose a suitable lexical item that
produces the same effect on the TL reader as that intended by the author of the
original text on the SL reader.
4. Allusive meaning occurs when an expression evokes an associated saying or
quotation in such a way that the meaning of that saying or quotation becomes part of
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the overall meaning of the expression. For example, the oath ‫االلتزام التام باإلخالص و الثقة‬
. ‫ والسمع والطاعة في العسر و اليسر والمنشط و المكره‬,which members of the Muslim
Brotherhood swore to their leader, Hassan Al Banna, alludes to the Quranic verses: ‫إن‬
‫ إن مع العسر يسرا‬.‫( مع العسر يسرا‬Chapter: 94, Verses 5 and 6).
5. Reflected meaning is the meaning given to the expression over and above the
denotative meaning which it has in that context by the fact that it also calls to mind
another meaning of the same word or phrase. For example, the word ‘rat’ in ‘John
was a rat’ has two meanings: the first denotative meaning is someone who deserts his
friends, and the second connotative reflected meaning is the animal ‘rat’. In Arabic to
call someone ‫ حمار‬means denotatively ‘stupid’. The word ‫ حمار‬also refers to the animal
‘donkey’, which in this context provides a connotative reflected meaning*.
Connotative meanings may differ from one place to another. Larson (1998) states that
connotative meanings of lexical items differ from one culture to another, since the
people of a given culture look at things from their own perspective. Many words
which look like they are equivalent are not; they have special connotations (ibid, 149).
For example, the lexical item ‫ بومة‬and the English word ‘owl’ have the same
denotative meaning. As mentioned in (Section 1.1), both of them refer to the same
class of bird. However, the two words have different connotative meanings. In Arabic
the word ‫ بومة‬has many negative connotations and is always seen as a symbol of bad
luck, while in English, ‘owl’ has positive and favourable associations. To translate the
English expressions: ‘He is as wise as an owl’ or ‘He is a wise old owl.’ into Arabic
as ‫ هو حكيم كالبومة‬would be unacceptable because of its negative connotations in Arabic.
The English expressions are rendered into Arabic as ‫‘ هو حكيم‬He is wise’. Problems in
translation may arise when the translator does not take into account the different
connotations of lexical items in the source and target language. Therefore, the
translator may need to explain the connotative meaning of the lexical item in the form
of a footnote or a definition within the text in order for the target language reader to
understand the favourable or unfavourable connotations of the source language item.
Connotative meanings may vary from one text type to another. For example, literary
and religious texts make significant use of connotative meaning, as universality of
terms used in these texts are not the norm. On the other hand, the terms used in
scientific and technical texts are typically universal and thus entail one-to-one
correspondence. According to Newmark (1981: 132) if the emphasis of the text is on
information, clarity, simplicity and orderly arrangements are the qualities required for
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conveying the information and achieving a similar effect on the target language reader
as the source language author produced on the original reader. However, if the text
attempts to persuade or direct the reader, the affective function is likely to dominate
the informative function. Finally, if there is a nuance of persuasion, encouragement,
scandal, optimism, pessimism, or determent, the reader is likely to react more strongly
to it than to the information the text relates to. Newmark concludes that “the essential
element that must be translated is the affective/persuasive, which takes
precedence over the informative. It is the peculiar flavour, which in speech is the tone,
not the words, which has to be conveyed” (ibid: 132-3). In order to convey the source
language message to the target reader the translator should have a good knowledge of
text types. This knowledge will enable the translator to choose the most appropriate
equivalent in terms of denotative and connotative meaning in the target language.
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